It takes up a lot of time to design and build a car. If you set yourself a time limit of one year, then you have a very large assignment. If the car is only allowed to be driven by solar energy that is collected, the project becomes even larger. If you also take into the equation that the car is being built by 15 students and that the entire project depends on funds and sponsoring from companies, then you can truly say the challenge is spectacular. The aim is to build a car together with our partners that combines top technology, optimisation and new concepts. These 15 students started this project with unlimited enthusiasm, because they all have one clear vision in common.

We are all young people who want to dedicate ourselves to this project. We all realise that in the future we will have to learn to live with the exhaustibility of our natural fossil fuels, such as natural gas and oil. With this project we want to make a move in the right direction by using renewable energy as a commercial source of energy. We have a long road to go, but if everyone does their bit towards renewable energy, we will all be able to enjoy a greener future.

Because we are all fledgling Industrial Engineers, it is also useful that this project allows us to take a look behind the scenes of quite a few companies. Each team member has a passion for engineering and science which is necessary for our future professional career. All these different elements and skills combined, transform us into a team that will do anything within our power to build the winning car. Living together day after day is not always easy, but because everyone contributes his piece to the project, we never lose sight of the ultimate goal: to come first in Australia in the Panasonic World Solar Challenge 2009.

We have a step-by-step plan to turn this vision into reality:

• To bring a project of this magnitude to a successful end the team first needs to be able to work together in a professional way. The whole team feels very strongly about team work and team building, as this is necessary for a team to work efficiently.
• Yet being an efficient team is not enough. A car driven by solar energy is a piece of top technology, for which we need the necessary know-how. So networking is very important for us: building our own network of companies that can help us and support us, is a step in the right direction.
• To convert the acquired technological know-how into a reliable and winning car cannot be done without the necessary financial resources. To convince potential sponsors, we have set up a well-thought out press plan and a very convincing return for our sponsors.

Aims

Our Solar Team believes in 5 aims, i.e.:

• Raising awareness: We want people in Belgium and in the whole world to become aware of the fact that using fossil fuels will end one day and that there are alternatives in the form of green energy, specifically solar energy.
• Promotion: What a lot of people do not know is that Belgium has quite a few highly technological companies. Only with the help of this technology will it be possible to enter the World Championship and perform well (second place in 2007).
• Raising interest: Using top technology alone is not sufficient for us, we also want to introduce other people to what Belgium has to offer in the field of engineering and science.
• Winning: In the previous World Championship the Solar Team achieved an amazing second place. This time we want more, and are going for a full 100% victory in Australia.
• Ambition: We are young people who want to prove that students are capable of demonstrating ambition and entrepreneurship, and are capable of realising large projects, together as a team. It does not always have to be the professionals who realise the great projects.